Direct sales of ebooks in multiple languages

Your direct channel needs to extend well beyond the English language

O’Reilly has long been a leader in fostering community and building a direct sales channel. This week we took the next step in enhancing the customer’s direct buying experience by offering German editions for many of our ebook titles. Take a close look at the bottom of this screen shot:

You can either buy the English language version from here or click the Deutsch link in the bottom right corner and this edition is displayed:

We’re in the process of adding more German titles to our online catalog and you can expect to see other languages added in the future as well.

Why is this significant? As I’ve said before, I believe every publisher needs to build a direct channel so they aren’t overly dependent on other retailers. I’m not suggesting a direct channel replaces other retail channels but it’s a very important extension that helps publishers establish a relationship with their customers, learn from the data generated and create even better products in the future. By adding other languages to the assortment we’re making it easier for anyone around the globe to find the O’Reilly content they want on one site. And, of course, it’s all being delivered with the multi-format (EPUB, mobi & PDF), DRM-free approach pioneered by O’Reilly.